Community Service
by Ryunn Kazan
Summary: Instead of calling Emma, Belle decides to keep Will to insure that he makes up for the damage he inflicted on one of her precious books.


Instead of calling Emma, Belle decides to keep Will to insure that he makes up for the damage he inflicted on one of her precious books.

/././././././

Will groaned as he awoke, the familiar pounding boiling-over in the back of his head.

"Bloody Hell I've done it again." Will moaned, clucking his dry tongue as he turned on his back and straightening the blanket on top of him…

Wait, blanket?

Will's eyes shot open, instantly regretting his hasty decision when the minimum light and scent of dusty books overran his delicate senses. That pirate had really done a number on him.

"Oh good, you're awake!"

The voice was too loud and too cheery for his taste, but he looked for the source and froze instant. The woman coming his way with a glass and plate was beautiful. And though the yellow top she wore stung his eyes, it made her look like a ray of sunshine and he wouldn't mind going blind from staring at it so long.

"Did I die last night?" he wondered because she was obviously an angel.

The woman sat the plate and glass on the little table beside the couch he was sprawled out on. "Now," she began, "I've read that bacon is good for hangovers. However I've never had the honor to test out the theory personally so you'll have to tell me when you finish eating. And here's a glass of ginger ale to settle your stomach." She winked at him, turning away. "I'll meet you in the lobby when you're done to discuss your punishment."

"P-punishment, Miss…?"

"Belle." Belle turned slowly, her expression now stern. "You see, this morning when I came to open, I found a drunken man sprawled out near the children's section _with a page from one of my books crumbled in his hands_."

Will winced at the malice in her voice.

"I first thought was to call Sheriff Swan and have her deal with him, however the idea of this monster sitting in an air conditioned cell whilst I order a new copy of the book he destroyed seemed sickening."

Will gulped. He really needed to stop passing out drunk in public places.

"So," she said with a clap of her hands. "I decided I'd allow this crook to serve his time with me. A little… community service so to speak."

Will's eye arched, not sure if he was about to get something kinky and amazing or tedious and weird.

"Eat up." She sang, disappearing behind a shelf. "Oh, and there's a bathroom to your left if you want to clean up that bruise."

Will pondered for a moment to run. There was an emergency exit to his right and he would be halfway down the street before she could shut the alarm off. However, his head and stomach were killing him and that ginger ale sounded absolutely delightful. Sighing, he picked up the sandwich, praying quickly that it wasn't tainted.

"It's a library, how bad could it be?"

Pretty bad for library.

Belle, though completely cheery, was completely mercifulness as she set poor Will Scarlet on his numerous tasks. She had him putting new catalog stickers on books until his fingers were pink, oiling the wheels on the book carts, dusting every single shelve, just about anything that had Will wishing he had ran for the hills. Whilst he slaved away, Belle talked on and on about the books she was reading and about the many events she was planning to get more people into the library. Despite how he wanted to be annoyed, he found her accent more of an elixir to his drunken regrets than the food and ale. And despite how she had him working to the bone, she was great company to be around.

"And then I'm going to try a pajama themed night for the children. I thought parents might like to bring them here and ship them straight off to bed when it's over!" Belle went on as she pulled a ladder from the upmost step.

Will chuckled as he screwed on one of wheels of the cart he was working on. "If it works they might demand you do it every night!"

Belle laughed as she arranged the ladder against a shelf and began to climb it.

Will looked up and frowned. "Whoa there Miss." He exclaimed as he held the ladder.

"Most prisoners wouldn't mind their jailers to be in a compromising position." Belle laughed as she got closer to the final step. "Don't worry, I do this all the time."

"In five inch heels?"

"Their only three inches, and yes. And I don't usually have anyone steadying the ladder like you are."

"Bloody Hell." Will groaned. This woman must be deranged. Any woman who'd allow strange men to work off their debts and climb ladders in heels had to be fresh out of the asylum.

"What are you looking for?"

"There's a box of puppets up here. I thought I'd set them out for the children."

"A very dangerous idea." Will grumbled, shifting his eyes away from the components of Belle's underskirt. She had been too good to him to be ogled at.

He held his breath as she got to the very top step of the ladder and went through a few of the boxes before she found what she was looking for.

"Catch!"

Will let go of the ladder as it fell to him. He realized his mistake as the ladder wiggled sideways and it and Belle came flying down. He dropped the box and held out his arms to catch her but instead acted as a cushion and she landed face-first into his chest. Will tripped over the box and twisted just enough to barely miss toppling over one of the newly restored book carts.

"Bloody…'ell." Will groaned. He felt the smooth material of Belle's dress and lifted his head just as she did. Their eyes met, hers the color of the sky after a storm, his the warm hue of forest dirt.

He smiled, quite liking the position. He wondered what food she liked because he wanted to impress her if she said yes to a date—

"What the Hell do you think you're doing!?"

Will shot to the source of the bellow as Belle jumped up and a well-dressed man came marching to him.

"Oh no." Will groaned as the man grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the circulatory desk.

"You little slug! You think you can come in here and take advantage of my wife you—"

"Rumple! Rumple stop!" Belle exclaimed as she pulled them apart.

"It's alright Belle he can't hurt you anymore."

"It's nothing like that!" she pleaded as she got between them. "This is the man I told you about, from this morning? I was getting a box from the shelf and I slipped. He caught me."

Rumplestiltskin surveyed the man his wife was defending darkly. He doubted that Belle would lie to protect a probable rapist but just the same this thing had his hands on his wife and a claim needed to be stated.

"No charge." Will smiled nervously.

Rumple simply glared at him.

Will cleared his throat nervously. "Well ah…I think I served me time."

"Yes." Belle agreed. "I'll see you out."

Rumple was ready to protest but Belle placed a reassuring hand on his arm as she and Will exited the library.

"I'm sorry." Belle whispered as she closed the door, "My husband can be a bit…intense at times."

Will stretched his arms out, taking in the air of the day. "Any man who has a ring on your finger better protect you. There's many a'theif in this town who wouldn't mind stealing such a treasure." He smiled at her, meaning every word.

Belle grinned at him teasingly. "I think you're flirting with me Mr.…" Belle gasped and then started laughing. "I've had you in my library all day and I didn't even ask your name."

"Will." Will stated, giving a flourished and slightly wobbly bow. "Will Scarlet, current thief, former book-abuser. At your service m'lady!"

Belle giggled. "The only service you can offer at the moment is a promise to wait for opening hours before you go rummaging through library. And do not ever harm another book again."

"I won't even crumple up a newspaper." He vowed, gladly earning another giggle from Belle.

"Well, with my mind at ease, I believe it's safe to say that you are rehabilitated to the point where you can be trusted around the general public. Speaking of which," her hand reached out to graze his shiner, "I'd get that looked at as quickly as possible, just to be safe."

Will froze, basking in the soft warmth of Belle's touch. It had been a while since he had felt the touch of a woman (other than the more than reoccurring slap). Not since Anastasia…

Will frowned and (regretfully) stepped away from Belle's hand. "Thank you Miss Belle, I'll be sure of that." He turned then, not waiting for her goodbye as he trotted down the street.

He couldn't allow himself to feel _that_ way again. Never again. Especially not a lovely, _married_ woman like Belle. Not to mention he did not need another set of broken ribs from her obviously protective husband.

He reached the end of the street and stopped, ordering himself to just keep going and forget all about her. However he cheated for a glance back and felt the air still inside his lungs when he saw a blurry Belle still standing there, watching him. He chortled despite himself, feeling his arm rise in a wave, and a second later so did hers.

"Wow." Will sighed.

Suddenly Belle stopped waving and looked over as her husband stepped out, ushering her back inside before he turned to Will. Even with the distance he could fill Mr. Gold's heated eyes burn into his chest, threatening him. Challenging him.

"Alrighty then." Will smirked, giving Mr. Gold a fluttering wave. Being a thief came with risks, some Will was more eager to take than others. Despite the grudge Mr. Gold obviously had out for him, Will knew he'd be making another trip to the library soon.

And he wouldn't be just checking out a book either.

/././././././

I ship Scarlet Beauty, but I hate how the writers went about it. How the Hell did they become romantically involved? Why couldn't they just be really good friends instead of romantics? Belle was supposed to find herself again, why did she have to have a man on her arm? Why couldn't she be the strong, sassy, bad-ass librarian who doesn't need a man? God they screwed her up so bad.

Anyway, I'm sure it'll sort itself out. I at least hope we get background on Anastasia.

I plan to do a short follow-up to this soon. Let me know what you think!


End file.
